JP2002-342899A discloses a driving support system for detecting the imminence of a vehicle colliding with another vehicle. The driving support system detects information including vehicle position, orientation, and velocity of a driven vehicle. The system retrieves object information including position, orientation, and velocity from a communication device located on at least one other vehicle.
Based on the driving information and object information, the driving support system estimates a probability that a vehicle collision will occur. If the probability is high, the driving support system displays the relative positions of the vehicles on a map and activates an alarm. The alarm is activated at a level corresponding to the probability of the collision.
The driving support system described above estimates the probability of a collision based on information received from communication devices located on other vehicles and, therefore, its versatility is limited.